Working in small groups, students research various landforms such as hills, mountains, plains, valleys, oceans, lakes, peninsulas, rivers, islands, glaciers, coral reefs, deserts, and rain forests. Find each landform in several different parts of the world. Identify the similarities and differences in these landforms, and how they affect life in that part of the globe.

Students select several landforms that are most appealing to the group. On white construction paper, draw detailed postcard-size pictures of each landform. Use Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils, Crayola Construction Paper Crayons, and Crayola Washable Markers. Cut out with Crayola Scissors.

On small pieces of paper, or on the back of your drawings, label each landform with name, a sentence describing that landform, and locations where it is found.

Punch holes in the top of each paper. Tie papers to yarn cut in varying lengths. Hang the landforms and their labels from a cardboard tube to create a mobile.

LA: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

LA: Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text.

LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grade level text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

SS: Demonstrate an ability to use correctly vocabulary associated with time such as past, present, future, and long ago; read and construct simple timelines; identify examples of change; and recognize examples of cause and effect relationships.

VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Possible classroom resources include: Introducing Landforms by Bobbie Kalman; Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary by Jack Knowlton; The Seven Continents by Wil Mara; What Is a Landform? By Rebecca Rissman

Students work in small groups to identify major landforms around the globe using a student-created sketch of the world, including countries' borders.

Challenge students to focus on one region. Identify specific landforms present in the region. Include heights of mountain ranges, depths of valleys, etc. What is the climate like in this area? What would life be like living there? What types of animals and plant life would you find there?

Students explore how landforms are altered over time. How do phenomena such as earthquakes, floods, and volcanoes affect the earth's surface?

Interested students research climate zones such as the permafrost, frozen tundra, temperate areas, and topical regions.